Kodiak Gas Services Inc (KGS) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the Kodiak Gas Services first-quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Graham Sones, Investor Relations. Thank you. Please go ahead.

您好，歡迎參加科迪亞克天然氣服務公司第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我很高興向您介紹主持人，投資者關係部 Graham Sones。謝謝。請繼續。

Good morning. We appreciate you joining us for the Kodiak Gas Services conference call and webcast to review first-quarter 2024 results. Participating from the company today are Mickey McKee, President and Chief Executive Officer; and John Griggs, Chief Financial Officer. Following my remarks, Mickey and John will provide high-level commentary on the company, our first-quarter financial results, and our updated 2024 outlook before opening the call for Q&A.

早安.我們感謝您參加 Kodiak Gas Services 電話會議和網路廣播，回顧 2024 年第一季業績。今天與會的公司成員包括總裁兼執行長米奇·麥基 (Mickey McKee)；和財務長約翰·格里格斯。在我發表演講後，米奇和約翰將對公司、我們第一季的財務表現以及我們更新的 2024 年前景進行高級評論，然後再開始問答環節。

Before I turn the call over to Mickey, I have a few housekeeping items to cover. There will be a replay of today's call available via webcast and also by phone until May 16, 2024. Information on how to access the replay can be found on the Investors tab of our website at kodiakgas.com. Please note that information reported on this call speaks only as of today, May 9, 2024, and therefore, you are advised that such information may no longer be accurate as of the time of any replay listening or transcript reading.

在將電話轉給米奇之前，我需要處理一些家務事項。在 2024 年 5 月 16 日之前，將透過網路廣播和電話重播今天的電話會議。有關如何存取重播的信息，請訪問我們網站 kodiakgas.com 的「投資者」標籤。請注意，本次電話會議報告的資訊僅截至今天（2024 年 5 月 9 日），因此，我們建議您，在重播收聽或閱讀文字記錄時，此類資訊可能不再準確。

The comments made by management during this call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of United States federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements reflect the current views, beliefs, and assumptions of Kodiak's management based on information currently available.

管理層在本次電話會議中發表的評論可能包含美國聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述反映了科迪亞克管理層基於當前可用資訊的當前觀點、信念和假設。

Although we believe the expectations referenced in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, various risks, uncertainties, and contingencies could cause the company's actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in the statements made by management. And management can give no assurance that such statements or expectations will prove to be correct.

儘管我們相信這些前瞻性陳述中所引用的預期是合理的，但各種風險、不確定性和意外事件可能導致公司的實際結果、績效或成就與管理階層聲明中表達的結果有重大差異。管理層不能保證此類陳述或期望將被證明是正確的。

The comments today will also include certain non-GAAP financial measures. Additional details and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures are included in yesterday's earnings release, which can be found on our website.

今天的評論還將包括某些非公認會計準則財務指標。其他詳細資訊以及與最具可比性的 GAAP 衡量標準的調整包含在昨天的收益發布中，可以在我們的網站上找到。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Kodiak's CEO. Mr. Mickey McKee. Mickey?

現在我想將電話轉給 Kodiak 的執行長。米奇·麥基先生。米奇？

Thanks, Graham, and thank you for joining us today. Let me get started by welcoming all the talented and dedicated CSI employees to the Kodiak family. By joining our team, each of you are contributing to Kodiak's increased scale and scope of service offerings to our customers and helping further expand our industry-leading footprint in key operating areas like the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale.

謝謝格雷厄姆，也謝謝您今天加入我們。首先，我要歡迎所有才華洋溢、敬業的 CSI 員工加入 Kodiak 大家庭。透過加入我們的團隊，你們每個人都將為 Kodiak 擴大為客戶提供的服務規模和範圍做出貢獻，並幫助進一步擴大我們在二疊紀盆地和 Eagle Ford 頁岩等關鍵作業區域的行業領先足跡。

I would also like to thank all of our Kodiak employees who have worked tirelessly on integration planning and execution while simultaneously staying focused on our ongoing business, which produced record adjusted EBITDA for yet another consecutive quarter. Extraordinary execution by an extraordinary workforce.

我還要感謝所有 Kodiak 員工，他們在整合規劃和執行方面孜孜不倦地工作，同時專注於我們正在進行的業務，該業務連續一個季度創造了創紀錄的調整後 EBITDA。非凡的員工隊伍帶來非凡的執行力。

We are now more than a month into the integration process with CSI and are extremely pleased with how the process is going. As I have previously stated, we are very confident in our ability to deliver upon significant synergies provided by this combination, which will drive incremental value for our combined shareholder base. We are updating our guidance for the year and are very excited to announce revised adjusted EBITDA guidance of $580 million to $610 million.

現在，我們與 CSI 的整合過程已經有一個多月了，我們對流程的進展感到非常滿意。正如我之前所說，我們對實現此合併帶來的顯著綜效的能力非常有信心，這將為我們合併後的股東群帶來增量價值。我們正在更新今年的指引，並非常高興地宣布修訂後的調整後 EBITDA 指引為 5.8 億美元至 6.1 億美元。

This reflects a full year of Kodiak's contribution, three quarters of CSI's contribution, and anticipated synergies we expect to realize throughout the rest of the year. John will discuss acquisition synergies further in his remarks, along with providing first-quarter highlights and reviewing our outlook in more detail.

這反映了 Kodiak 全年的貢獻、CSI 四分之三的貢獻以及我們預計在今年剩餘時間內實現的預期協同效應。約翰將在演講中進一步討論收購協同效應，同時提供第一季的亮點並更詳細地回顧我們的前景。

So let's jump into it. Our first-quarter results came in better than expected while maintaining our industry-leading horsepower utilization at 99.8%. In addition to record-setting adjusted EBITDA contributions of $118 million for the quarter, up 11% versus the prior-year period, we continued to strategically grow our large horsepower Permian-focused fleet, increasing revenue-generating horsepower by over 26,000 horsepower in Q1.

那麼就讓我們開始吧。我們第一季的業績優於預期，同時保持業界領先的馬力利用率 99.8%。除了創紀錄的本季調整後EBITDA 貢獻1.18 億美元（較去年同期成長11%）外，我們還繼續策略性地發展以二疊紀盆地為重點的大馬力機隊，第一季創收馬力增加了26,000 匹馬力以上。

We also paid another quarterly well-covered dividend with a compelling yield, reinforcing our commitment to returning capital to shareholders consistent with our previously discussed capital allocation strategy, targeting a 3.5 times leverage by the end of 2025. But as you might imagine, I am even more excited for the future due to the step change we've made at Kodiak by becoming the largest contract compression provider in the industry with over $4.4 million horsepower.

我們還以令人信服的收益率支付了另一筆季度股息，強化了我們按照先前討論的資本配置策略向股東返還資本的承諾，目標是到 2025 年底將槓桿率提高到 3.5 倍。但正如您可能想像的那樣，我對未來更加興奮，因為我們在 Kodiak 做出了重大改變，成為業內最大的合約壓縮供應商，馬力超過 440 萬美元。

We are still in the early days following the close of the CSI acquisition and are in the evaluation phase of determining if there are small non-core assets that we could or should sell. Our strategy of focusing on large horsepower in liquids-rich associated gas basins has not changed, and the majority of the horsepower acquired in the transaction continues to fit that strategic growth profile. This increase in that strategic horsepower is extremely attractive given the long term bullish outlook for natural gas compression and the tight supply as reflected by our industry-leading utilization level of 99.8%.

我們仍處於 CSI 收購結束後的早期階段，並處於確定是否存在我們可以或應該出售的小型非核心資產的評估階段。我們專注於富含液體的伴生氣盆地大馬力的戰略沒有改變，並且在交易中獲得的大部分馬力仍然符合該戰略增長概況。考慮到天然氣壓縮的長期看漲前景以及我們行業領先的 99.8% 的利用率所反映的供應緊張，這種戰略馬力的增加極具吸引力。

As we have previously discussed, Kodiak is fully contracted on our 2024 new unit deliveries, including CSI new unit deliveries, and we are now fully contracted through the first three quarters of 2025. When we couple that contracted growth with our leading position in the Permian Basin, the addition of CSI's more than 600,000 horsepower of large horsepower compressors, the result is a dominant position in the most prolific oil- and gas-producing regions in the United States.

正如我們之前討論的那樣，Kodiak 已完全簽訂了 2024 年新機組交付合同，包括 CSI 新機組交付合同，並且我們現在已完全簽訂了 2025 年前三個季度的合同。當我們將這種收縮增長與我們在二疊紀盆地的領先地位（加上CSI 超過600,000 馬力的大馬力壓縮機）結合起來時，結果就是在美國最富產的石油和天然氣生產地區佔據主導地位。

As many of our peers have recently discussed, the US is poised to see a step change in natural gas demand as numerous factors are shaping up to lay the foundation for a multi-year period of above-average growth. The next wave of US Gulf Coast LNG export capacity is expected to become operational soon with the first project slated to start up in the fourth quarter of this year. Natural gas exports to Mexico are set to increase at a faster rate over the next several years.

正如我們許多同行最近討論的那樣，美國的天然氣需求有望發生重大變化，因為眾多因素正在形成，為多年高於平均水平的增長奠定了基礎。美國墨西哥灣沿岸的下一波液化天然氣出口能力預計將很快投入運營，第一個項目將於今年第四季啟動。未來幾年，對墨西哥的天然氣出口將以更快的速度成長。

And lastly, we are expecting to see exponential growth in power demand due to the proliferation of AI and data center technology, which will largely have to be sourced from natural gas-fired power generation. In total, we are seeing estimates that are calling for as much as a 20% increase in natural gas demand by 2030. The Permian is strategically positioned to meet this incremental demand and supply the US and the world with clean, reliable, and cheap fuel to power energy security while reducing worldwide emissions and energy poverty.

最後，由於人工智慧和資料中心技術的普及，我們預計電力需求將呈指數級增長，而這些技術將主要來自天然氣發電。總的來說，我們預計到 2030 年天然氣需求將增加 20%。二疊紀盆地的戰略定位是滿足這種增量需求，為美國和世界提供清潔、可靠和廉價的燃料，以保障能源安全，同時減少全球排放和能源貧窮。

However, in order to achieve this, there will need to be a large increase in horsepower compression capacity. Given the historical relationship between compression horsepower and domestic natural gas production, that much incremental demand would require more horsepower than the current combined fleets of Kodiak, Archrock, and USA Compression, which took decades to build.

然而，為了實現這一目標，需要大幅增加馬力壓縮能力。考慮到壓縮馬力與國內天然氣產量之間的歷史關係，如此大的增量需求將需要比目前科迪亞克、Archrock 和USA Compression 的聯合機隊更大的馬力，後者需要幾十年的時間才能建造。

Combined with the well-documented supply and demand macro trends for our industry, we believe Kodiak is well positioned to be the critical compression infrastructure partner of choice. Our focus on customers and employees, industry-leading mechanical availability and utilization, and our market position will be instrumental to meet this expected demand.

結合我們產業有據可查的供需宏觀趨勢，我們相信 Kodiak 完全有能力成為首選的關鍵壓縮基礎設施合作夥伴。我們對客戶和員工的關注、領先業界的機械可用性和利用率以及我們的市場地位將有助於滿足這一預期需求。

And now I'll pass the call on to John Griggs to review first-quarter financial highlights and discuss our updated outlook. John?

現在我將把電話轉給約翰·格里格斯（John Griggs），讓他回顧第一季的財務亮點並討論我們最新的前景。約翰？

Thanks, Mickey. Here's the key takeaway. First-quarter Kodiak results came in better than expected, and we're optimistic about steady, profitable growth in '24 and beyond. That said, let me now highlight a few aspects of our first-quarter standalone results. Total revenues were just under $216 million, up 13% compared to the first quarter of '23. The increase in revenues was driven by year-over-year growth in both of our operating segments. Adjusted EBITDA was $118 million, up over 3% from Q4 and nearly 11% compared to the same quarter the last year.

謝謝，米奇。這是關鍵要點。Kodiak 第一季的業績優於預期，我們對 24 年及以後的穩定獲利成長持樂觀態度。也就是說，現在讓我重點介紹我們第一季獨立業績的幾個面向。總營收略低於 2.16 億美元，比 2023 年第一季成長 13%。收入的成長是由我們兩個營運部門的年成長所推動的。調整後 EBITDA 為 1.18 億美元，較第四季成長超過 3%，較去年同期成長近 11%。

Looking at our segments, compression operations revenues for the quarter were $193 million, up 2% and 9% when compared to the fourth quarter and the same quarter a year ago, respectively. The top-line growth was driven by a combination of higher pricing on the incumbent fleet as the tight market has allowed us to recontract at higher rates as well as an increase in our overall revenue-generating horsepower from fleet additions. Revenue-generating horsepower increased by over 26,000 sequentially and 116,000 year over year.

從我們的細分市場來看，本季壓縮業務收入為 1.93 億美元，與第四季和去年同期相比分別成長 2% 和 9%。收入成長的推動因素包括現有機隊的定價上漲，因為市場緊張使我們能夠以更高的利率重新簽訂合同，以及增加機隊帶來​​的整體創收馬力的增加。創收馬力較上季增加超過 26,000 匹，較去年同期增加 116,000 匹。

Compression operations adjusted gross margin percentage was just shy of 66%, which is the high end of our guidance range. In our other services segment, revenues were $22 million in the first quarter of '24 compared to $12 million in the first quarter of last year. Other services adjusted gross margin was $4.4 million compared to $3.4 million in the first quarter of '23.

壓縮業務調整後毛利率略低於 66%，這是我們指引範圍的上限。在我們的其他服務部門，2024 年第一季的營收為 2,200 萬美元，而去年第一季的營收為 1,200 萬美元。其他服務調整後的毛利率為 440 萬美元，而 2023 年第一季為 340 萬美元。

As we've discussed in prior calls, our other services segment is lumpy but strategic. Station construction projects are synergistic with our compression business and require no capital. Every dollar of incremental cash flow adds to both our overall return on capital employed and discretionary cash flow, which in turn allows us to pay more dividends and invest in high-return growth capital projects.

正如我們在之前的電話會議中所討論的那樣，我們的其他服務部門雖然不穩定，但具有戰略意義。站建設項目與我們的壓縮業務有協同效應，不需要資金。每增加一美元的現金流都會增加我們的已用資本的總體回報率和可自由支配的現金流，這反過來又使我們能夠支付更多的股息並投資於高回報增長的資本項目。

In terms of CapEx for the first quarter, our maintenance capital expenditure figure was just under $11 million. As a reminder, our maintenance spend is a function of the hours and age of our equipment and will vary by year, depending upon when units were added to the fleet.

就第一季的資本支出而言，我們的維護資本支出數字略低於 1,100 萬美元。提醒一下，我們的維護支出取決於設備的使用時間和使用年限，並且每年都會有所不同，具體取決於設備添加到車隊的時間。

Growth CapEx was $59 million for the quarter, of which $6 million was non-new unit CapEx. As we mentioned last quarter, our growth CapEx this year is front-end loaded, basically a function of when we ordered new units last year, and you're seeing that in Q1.

本季成長資本支出為 5,900 萬美元，其中 600 萬美元為非新單位資本支出。正如我們上季度提到的，我們今年的成長資本支出是前端加載的，基本上是我們去年訂購新設備時的函數，您可以在第一季看到這一點。

Moving to the balance sheet, as of March 31, we had debt of $1.9 billion, consisting of the $750 million in senior unsecured notes we issued in February and the rest borrowings under our ABL facility. Our credit agreement leverage ratio was just under 4 times.

轉向資產負債表，截至 3 月 31 日，我們的債務為 19 億美元，其中包括我們 2 月發行的 7.5 億美元優先無擔保票據以及 ABL 貸款下的其餘借款。我們的信貸協議槓桿率略低於4倍。

We ended the first quarter with approximately $1.1 billion of availability on the ABL facility. On April 1, in connection with the closing of CSI, we drew down on our ABL to retire all of CSI's debt. Pro forma for the transaction and including fees and expenses paid on the closing date, we had total debt of approximately $2.6 billion.

第一季結束時，ABL 設施的可用性約為 11 億美元。4 月 1 日，隨著 CSI 的關閉，我們動用了 ABL 來償還 CSI 的所有債務。以交易形式計算，包括截止日期支付的費用和開支，我們的總債務約為 26 億美元。

Let's turn to the updated 2024 outlook. We provided updated guidance ranges in yesterday's earnings release. Given that we've only owned CSI for a few weeks, we felt it was appropriate to provide relatively high-level guidance this quarter. You should expect us to come out with more fulsome updated guidance in our second-quarter earnings call in August.

讓我們來看看更新後的 2024 年展望。我們在昨天的財報中提供了更新的指導範圍。鑑於我們只持有 CSI 幾週的時間，我們認為本季提供相對較高水準的指導是合適的。您應該期待我們在 8 月的第二季財報電話會議上提供更豐富的更新指引。

With that said, I'll reiterate what Mickey mentioned at the outset. We are more than pleased with the CSI acquisition. Our original investment thesis is proving true. And at this point, our previously estimated cost synergies seem conservative.

話雖如此，我將重申米奇一開始提到的內容。我們對 CSI 的收購非常滿意。我們最初的投資理論被證明是正確的。在這一點上，我們先前估計的成本協同效應似乎比較保守。

For the full year, which includes 12 months of Kodiak but only 9 months of CSI and synergies, we expect revenues will range between $1.125 billion and $1.175 billion. We estimate adjusted EBITDA to range between $580 million and $610 million.

全年（包括 12 個月的 Kodiak，但僅 9 個月的 CSI 和協同效應），我們預計收入將在 11.25 億美元至 11.75 億美元之間。我們估計調整後的 EBITDA 範圍在 5.8 億美元至 6.1 億美元之間。

We expect maintenance CapEx to come in between $55 million and $65 million. In terms of growth CapEx, we're forecasting between $215 million to $235 million for the year. Bear in mind that the lion's share of that growth CapEx was committed by each of -- Kodiak and CSI during 2023, given the lead times on new equipment. Not included in that figure is approximately $35 million of extraordinary capital expenditures related to the acquisition. Prior to close, we knew there would be a variety of cleanup items, but now that we've owned them for a few weeks, we have a good handle of what those are and what we need to spend.

我們預計維護資本支出將在 5,500 萬至 6,500 萬美元之間。就成長資本支出而言，我們預計今年的資本支出將在 2.15 億美元至 2.35 億美元之間。請記住，考慮到新設備的交付週期，2023 年增長的資本支出的最大份額是由 Kodiak 和 CSI 各自承擔的。該數字不包括與收購相關的約 3500 萬美元的特別資本支出。在關閉之前，我們知道會有各種各樣的清理物品，但現在我們已經擁有它們幾週了，我們很好地掌握了這些物品是什麼以及我們需要花費什麼。

These are items like fleet upgrades to meet Kodiak safety and emission standards, plus facilities and rolling stock to meet the needs of the combined company. We think it's important to knock as much of this out in '24 as we can to get it behind us and solidify the foundation.

這些項目包括車隊升級以滿足科迪亞克安全和排放標準，以及設施和機車車輛以滿足合併後公司的需求。我們認為，重要的是要在 24 年盡可能消除這些問題，以將其拋在身後並鞏固基礎。

Also, a meaningful portion of that $35 million figure relates to non-cash accounting accrual triggered by the transaction, including the conformance between our two companies of lease accounting methodologies and sales and used taxes on equipment purchases. We're obviously not guiding on 2025, but we don't see this type of CapEx spend being repeated in the future.

此外，這 3,500 萬美元的很大一部分與交易引發的非現金會計應計費用有關，包括我們兩家公司在租賃會計方法以及設備採購的銷售和使用稅方面的一致性。我們顯然不會以 2025 年為目標，但我們認為未來不會重複這種類型的資本支出。

To wrap things up, last week, our Board declared a quarterly dividend payment of $0.38 per share, which will be paid on May 20. This equates to an annualized dividend of $1.52 per share, yielding about 5.4% at a 2.4 times discretionary cash flow coverage ratio. Dividends are a key component of our capital allocation framework, which I will remind you encompasses measured growth plus an attractive return of and return on capital, all while living within cash flow and driving towards our 3.5 times leverage target by the end of '25.

總而言之，上週，我們的董事會宣布支付每股 0.38 美元的季度股息，將於 5 月 20 日支付。這相當於每股年化股息 1.52 美元，以 2.4 倍的可自由支配現金流覆蓋率計算，殖利率約為 5.4%。股息是我們資本配置框架的關鍵組成部分，我要提醒您的是，它包括可衡量的成長以及有吸引力的資本回報率和回報率，同時生活在現金流範圍內，並在25 年底前實現我們3.5 倍的槓桿目標。

That's it for my prepared comments. Thank you for your participation and support. I'll hand it back to Mickey.

這就是我準備好的評論。感謝您的參與與支持。我會把它還給米奇。

Thanks, John. In summary, I would like to close the call by thanking the extraordinary women and men of Kodiak gas services and again welcoming the CSI employees to the Kodiak family, a company that is stronger than the sum of the parts. Each team members' hard work and dedication to safety and our customers are what makes Kodiak special. And we would not be an industry leader without this commitment to excellence.

謝謝，約翰。總而言之，在結束這通通話時，我要感謝科迪亞克天然氣服務部門的傑出員工，並再次歡迎 CSI 員工加入科迪亞克大家庭，這是一家比各部門的總和更強大的公司。每個團隊成員的辛勤工作以及對安全和客戶的奉獻使 Kodiak 與眾不同。如果沒有這種對卓越的承諾，我們就不會成為產業領導者。

We are very happy with the start of the year, and we look forward to continuing profitable growth in 2024 and beyond, which we expect will further enhance value for all of our shareholders. At this point, we will open the line up for questions. Operator?

我們對今年的開局感到非常滿意，並期待在 2024 年及以後繼續實現盈利增長，我們預計這將進一步提高所有股東的價值。此時，我們將開放提問隊列。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) John Mackay, Goldman Sachs.

（操作員指令）John Mackay，高盛。

Hey, good morning. I appreciate the time. Definitely appreciate all the comments, and you guys just closed a month ago, and we're kind of probably looking towards the second-quarter call for a more kind of quantitative update. But would just love to hear any initial reads of potential revenue synergies. There are other pieces now that you've had your hands on these assets just for a little bit now and what we can think about for maybe timeframe on rolling those out? I understand it's still going to be high level.

嗨，早安。我很感激時間。非常感謝所有的評論，你們一個月前剛結束，我們可能會期待第二季的更多定量更新。但很想聽聽潛在收入綜效的初步解讀。現在還有其他一些內容，您已經掌握了這些資產一段時間，我們可以考慮在推出這些資產的時間範圍內做什麼？我知道它仍然會保持高水準。

Yes, John. This is Mickey. Thanks for joining us today. Look, I think we're still trying to get our arms around what the potential revenue synergies are here. Our commercial team has been working diligently, trying to align contracts with customers that are on contracts that are both Kodiak and CSI paper coming into the deal. So I think that there are revenue synergies to be had there.

是的，約翰。這是米奇。感謝您今天加入我們。聽著，我認為我們仍在努力抓住這裡潛在的收入綜效。我們的商業團隊一直在努力工作，試圖與簽訂了 Kodiak 和 CSI 紙張合約的客戶保持一致。所以我認為那裡可以產生收入協同效應。

I think that we can bring a lot of business also in the ancillary revenue side of the business as well to CSI's legacy AMS business, and I think that's going to be pretty impactful for us as well. But I think there's definitely some revenue synergies there. And like you said, we're not quite ready to unpack those yet today.

我認為我們可以在業務的輔助收入方面以及 CSI 的傳統 AMS 業務中帶來大量業務，我認為這對我們也將產生相當大的影響。但我認為這肯定存在一些收入協同效應。正如您所說，我們今天還沒有準備好拆開這些內容。

Thank you. Maybe I'm just looking at the quarter on kind of -- I guess, talking legacy business now. Margins are trending really well, kind of top end of your range. Understand that will change a little bit for the 2Q numbers, plus bring in the CSI business. But maybe just give us a read on what's happening there? How you're feeling about that kind of underlying margin trajectory looking forward?

謝謝。也許我只是在關注這個季度——我想，現在談論遺留業務。利潤率趨勢非常好，處於您的範圍的頂端。了解第二季的數字會發生一些變化，再加上 CSI 業務的引入。但也許只是讓我們了解那裡發生的事情？您對未來的潛在利潤軌跡有何看法？

Yes, so I think that I'll let John jump in here too and talk a little bit about that. But I think what you're seeing here is a combination of both our revenue rate increases, but also cost control. And I think what you'll see --once we get the two businesses put together, you'll see a little bit of a drop in that gross margin just because CSI's contribution is a little bit lower than ours.

是的，所以我想我也會讓約翰也加入進來，談談這個問題。但我認為您在這裡看到的是我們的收入率成長和成本控制的組合。我想你會看到——一旦我們把這兩項業務放在一起，你就會看到毛利率略有下降，只是因為 CSI 的貢獻比我們低一點。

So blended, it'll come back a little bit. But I think that's where you'll see those synergies start to take place and we [were] purchasing power, parts and pieces, and that kind of thing that comes with a transaction like this. So we'll start to realize those synergies throughout the second half of the year.

如此混合，它會回來一點。但我認為這就是你會看到協同效應開始發生的地方，我們有購買力、零件，以及像這樣的交易帶來的東西。因此，我們將在今年下半年開始實現這些協同效應。

Yes, and I was just going to add to little bit on what Mickey said. We're going to come back in the second quarter and realign how the segments work because they have some different businesses than we have. So in addition to them in their contract services having just a lower margin, they also have different product lines.

是的，我只是想對米奇所說的內容做一些補充。我們將在第二季回來重新調整各部門的運作方式，因為他們有一些與我們不同的業務。因此，除了他們的合約服務利潤率較低之外，他們還擁有不同的產品線。

So this is the last you'll see of the Kodiak compression operations, but I will leave you with -- being at the top end of the guidance range of 64% to 66% that we gave to start the year feels good, feels right, and it feels sustainable. So we hope to carry that momentum into the back half of the year.

因此，這是您最後一次看到 Kodiak 壓縮操作，但我會留給您——處於我們年初給出的 64% 至 66% 指導範圍的頂端，感覺很好，感覺不錯，而且感覺可持續。因此，我們希望將這種勢頭延續到今年下半年。

Awesome. Appreciate the color. See you guys in two weeks. Thanks.

驚人的。欣賞顏色。兩週後見。謝謝。

Sounds good, John. Thanks.

聽起來不錯，約翰。謝謝。

Neal Dingmann, Truist Securities.

尼爾‧丁曼 (Neal Dingmann)，Truist 證券公司。

Hi. Good morning, guys. Thanks for the time. The first question is around -- I love the comment in there on the prepared remarks around the prospects for US natural gas demand to support AI, and of course, a lot of others have talked about that. My question around that is, I know it's further down the line, but do you all envision a potential -- forming partnerships? Or do you all think there's something different strategically you all might be able to do on this build-out versus what you've done historically?

你好。早上好傢伙。謝謝你的時間。第一個問題是——我喜歡其中關於支持人工智慧的美國天然氣需求前景的準備好的評論，當然，許多其他人也談到了這一點。我的問題是，我知道這是更進一步的事情，但你們都預見了潛在的可能性——建立合作關係嗎？或者你們都認為，與你們過去所做的事情相比，你們都可以在這次擴建中做一些不同的策略？

Potentially, Neal. I mean, we're going to look at opportunities like that nonstop going forward and looking at that strategic rationale there. There could be things we wanted to do there. I think that at this point in time, though, we kind of look at that incremental demand as a really strong fundamental base for our growth of the business and supporting our capital allocation strategy that we have in place already.

有潛力，尼爾。我的意思是，我們將不斷地尋找類似的機會，並研究那裡的策略原則。那裡可能有我們想做的事情。但我認為，在這個時候，我們將增量需求視為我們業務成長的真正強大的基礎，並支持我們已經制定的資本配置策略。

So opportunities for different kind of lines of work and that kind of thing, I think is something we'll be constantly evaluating. But at the end of the day, that fundamental base business, which is that contract compression business, is really going to be benefited from this incremental demand.

因此，我認為我們將不斷評估不同類型工作的機會和這類事情。但最終，基本的基礎業務，即合約壓縮業務，確實將從這種增量需求中受益。

Yes, I love that tailwind mix between that analogy. My follow up is maybe for you or John, just wanted -- your contract volumes continue to be just extremely high. One of the, obviously, the best in the group. I'm just wondering because of this, would you all -- or have you all considered potentially running with a bit more debt and boosting the shareholder return? And I only ask because the contract margins look so phenomenal. I'm just wondering if you're able to run a little bit more because of that.

是的，我喜歡這個類比之間的順風混合。我的後續行動可能是針對你或約翰的，只是想要——你的合約量仍然非常高。顯然，是該組中最好的之一。我只是想知道，因此，你們所有人——或者你們都考慮過可能承擔更多債務並提高股東回報嗎？我之所以這麼問，是因為合約利潤看起來非常驚人。我只是想知道你是否能因此多跑一點。

I mean, I think that -- look, as a private company, I think you've heard some of my peers talk about it. As a private company, we were in with higher leverage than we are today. But I think that our capital allocation strategy is something that we believe is focused on the right sort of mix between return of capital share to shareholders and growth and living within our free cash flow to do so.

我的意思是，我認為——作為一家私人公司，我想你已經聽過我的一些同行談論過這個問題。作為一家私人公司，我們當時的槓桿率比今天更高。但我認為，我們的資本配置策略著重於股東資本回報與成長之間的正確組合，並在我們的自由現金流範圍內實現這一目標。

So I think that the combination with CSI gives us a good amount of scale that we can kind of ratchet up some growth CapEx in the next couple of years after we get this thing kind of integrated and smoothed out here.

因此，我認為與 CSI 的結合為我們提供了很大的規模，在我們對這件事進行整合和平滑之後，我們可以在未來幾年內提​​高一些成長資本支出。

But I think that it's -- something that's pretty key is our focus on that 3.5 times leverage by the end of 2025. That's a commitment we've made to shareholders, and it's something we're going to stand pretty firm on. And yes, we understand that -- yes, we do understand that there's opportunity abounds for a great return projects out there, but we're focused on that leverage.

但我認為，非常關鍵的是我們的重點是到 2025 年底將槓桿率提高到 3.5 倍。這是我們對股東所做的承諾，也是我們將堅定不移的承諾。是的，我們明白——是的，我們確實明白，回報豐厚的專案有很多機會，但我們專注於這種槓桿作用。

Thank you all. Nice quarter.

謝謝你們。不錯的季度。

Yes. Thanks, Neal.

是的。謝謝，尼爾。

Jeremy Tonet, JPMorgan Chase

傑里米·託內特，摩根大通

Hey, good morning, everyone. This is Eli on for Jeremy. Just wanted to maybe start on your views of the pressure market overall. I think some of your competitors framed a nine-month lead time on some equipment, which maybe is coming in a bit from previous lead times in a year or more. I appreciate some of the commentary on increased NAT gas demand you framed. But maybe if you can just speak to what you're seeing in the compression market more in the near term and your expectations? Thanks.

嘿，大家早安。這是伊萊 (Eli) 替傑里米 (Jeremy) 發言。只是想談談您對壓力市場整體的看法。我認為你們的一些競爭對手在某些設備上製定了九個月的交貨時間，這可能比以前一年或更長時間的交貨時間要短一些。我很欣賞您所提出的關於 NAT Gas 需求增加的一些評論。但也許您能談談您近期在壓縮市場中看到的情況以及您的期望嗎？謝謝。

Yes, absolutely. And yes, Caterpillar has brought in some deliveries on their large horsepower engines from kind of over a year to up to inside -- to kind of that nine-month range. Still takes an extraordinary amount of planning with our customers to get that equipment ordered out there that far in advance. I'll remind you that we don't spend a dollar of CapEx on speculation, that all of our CapEx spend a year plus out has a signed contract to back it up and supported. So we're not spending any speculative CapEx out there and planning with our customers very, very early on there.

是的，一點沒錯。是的，卡特彼勒的大馬力引擎的交付時間從一年多到內部——到九個月的範圍內。仍然需要與我們的客戶進行大量的規劃才能提前那麼長時間訂購設備。我要提醒您的是，我們不會在投機上花費一美元的資本支出，我們花費一年多的所有資本支出都有一份已簽署的合約來支持和支持。因此，我們不會花費任何投機性資本支出，也不會很早就與客戶一起進行規劃。

But I think that the delivery times coming in from Caterpillar there is -- I wouldn't say it's indicative of any softness in the market. Caterpillar has alleviated some supply chain bottlenecks, and they are bringing in some deliveries a little bit. But I think what you'll see and what we look at is the amount of capital discipline in the industry that's keeping and continuing in our peers and us and some of our customers and not overspending and flooding the market with equipment, and we'd like to see it that way.

但我認為卡特彼勒的交貨時間——我不會說這表明市場有任何疲軟。卡特彼勒緩解了一些供應鏈瓶頸，並且增加了一些交付量。但我認為您將看到的以及我們所看到的是該行業的資本紀律數量，我們的同行、我們和我們的一些客戶將保持並持續這種資本紀律，而不是過度支出和用設備充斥市場，我們會喜歡這樣看。

Yes, and I'll chime in too and remind everybody, we said in the prepared remarks that we've committed our CapEx all the way through the third quarter of next year on growth CapEx. And that's indicative again of customer demand, not necessarily tied to that lead time on Caterpillar equipment. We referenced industry structure and the discipline we're seeing. It's obvious to see it in the public guys. You track that. We, of course, monitor the private guys as well.

是的，我也會插話並提醒大家，我們在準備好的發言中表示，我們已將整個明年第三季的資本支出用於成長資本支出。這再次顯示了客戶需求，不一定與卡特彼勒設​​備的交貨時間有關。我們參考了我們所看到的行業結構和學科。在公眾場合很明顯地看到這一點。你跟蹤那個。當然，我們也會監視私人人員。

And we really see discipline there as well. Capital is more difficult to access than it was in the past. Debt is more expensive. So we see the industry structure with the combination of demand and supply staying stronger for longer as a result of this new artificial intelligence driven boom in power, which ultimately results in more gas demand too. So we're really excited about multi-year outlook.

我們也確實在那裡看到了紀律。與過去相比，獲得資本更加困難。債務成本更高。因此，我們看到，由於人工智慧驅動的電力熱潮，供需結合的產業結構在更長時間內保持強勁，最終也導致了更多的天然氣需求。因此，我們對多年前景感到非常興奮。

Awesome. Yes, that's helpful commentary and seems like a good shape for the market ahead. Maybe just pivoting a little bit to the revised guidance, you talked a bit about hitting the higher end of the compression operations gross margin, which is really great. Maybe can you just talk a bit about what might drive you guys to the higher end of that guide and things that we should be watching in the second half of the year?

驚人的。是的，這是有用的評論，而且似乎對未來市場來說是一個很好的形式。也許只是稍微轉向修訂後的指導，您談到了達到壓縮業務毛利率的高端，這真的很棒。也許您能談談什麼可能促使你們達到該指南的高端以及我們應該在今年下半年關注的事情嗎？

So I'll chime in there instead -- I really want to come back to the comment I made earlier and that when we come out in Q2. You're going to see slightly different segment breakups, and you're going to see slightly different margin profiles.

所以我會插話——我真的想回到我之前發表的評論，以及當我們在第二季發佈時的評論。您將看到略有不同的細分市場，並且您將看到略有不同的利潤概況。

So our 64% to 66% that we guided on for Kodiak standalone is going to be a different number. It's going to be a lower number by virtue of just doing simple math of combining CSI plus us. So we need to remember that we're not going to be talking about the same numbers.

因此，我們為 Kodiak 獨立版制定的 64% 到 66% 的指導值將是不同的數字。只需將 CSI 與我們結合進行簡單的數學計算，就會得到一個更低的數字。所以我們需要記住，我們不會談論相同的數字。

That said, on a standalone basis, as I mentioned earlier, being at the top end of the range in the first quarter feels good. It feels like it's sustainable. And I think the combination of our standalone business plus the synergies will allow us continue to chip away as we move forward throughout the year at improving that margin again too. But expect us to come out in August in our Q2 earnings call with fulsome guidance and a better margin breakdown for you to model.

也就是說，正如我之前提到的，在獨立的基礎上，第一季處於該範圍的頂端感覺很好。感覺就像是可持續的。我認為，我們的獨立業務加上協同效應的結合將使我們能夠在全年不斷前進的過程中繼續努力，再次提高利潤率。但預計我們將在 8 月的第二季財報電話會議上提供全面的指導和更好的利潤率細目供您建模。

I will look forward to that. Thanks, guys.

我會期待這一點。多謝你們。

Zack Van Everen, TPH.

扎克·範·埃弗倫，TPH。

Perfect. Thanks for taking my question, guys. Just one on maybe future bolt-on acquisitions. You mentioned that you're focusing on liquids-rich plays. But curious if you would ever look outside your key markets of the Permian, especially with the natural gas demand ramp happening in more of the dry gas regions.

完美的。謝謝你們提出我的問題，夥伴們。只是其中之一可能是未來的補強收購。您提到您正在關注富含液體的遊戲。但好奇您是否會關註二疊紀主要市場之外的地區，尤其是在更多乾燥天然氣地區天然氣需求增加的情況下。

I think we'll be interested in looking at all sorts of M&A going forward. But I think that this -- our philosophy, in theory of focusing on liquids-rich associated gas basins has really proven to take really good care of us going in the past. So I think we'll stick with that strategy.

我認為我們會對未來各種併購感興趣。但我認為，我們的理念，從理論上講，專注於富含液體的伴生氣盆地，已經被證明確實能夠很好地照顧我們過去的發展。所以我認為我們會堅持這個策略。

I don't know if we jump into something that was really tied to dry gas basins and gas prices quite as much as any more than what we do now, which is very little. But from an M&A perspective, we'll be interested in looking at lots of different opportunities, compression, and kind of associated ancillary services as well that are complementary to our business today.

我不知道我們是否會像現在那樣投入與乾氣盆地和天然氣價格真正相關的事情，而現在所做的事情很少。但從併購的角度來看，我們將有興趣尋找許多不同的機會、壓縮以及與我們當今業務互補的相關輔助服務。

Perfect. That makes sense. And then just one on the synergies. The original $20 million or greater than $20 million you guys noted at the time of the acquisition, is a lot of that on the cost side? And should we see that show up fully in 2024? And then I'm sure there'll be some more in '25 and beyond once you guys get the business under your name.

完美的。這就說得通了。然後只談協同效應。你們在收購時提到的最初的 2000 萬美元或超過 2000 萬美元，在成本方面是很多嗎？我們應該在 2024 年看到這一點嗎？然後我確信，一旦你們把公司納入你們的名下，25 年及以後還會有更多的事情發生。

Yes, so Zach, good question. So when we announced the deal and I think in the first quarter -- the fourth-quarter calls, we always stuck to our greater than $20 million of cost synergies, and that's all we referenced. If you do simple math on where we've guided and used the midpoint of the range, you took the midpoint of where Kodiak was before, $475 million. You take three-quarters of the midpoint of where CSI guided. That's [$105 million]. That equals $580 million. In order to get to the midpoint of our range, that would imply $15 million of realized synergies.

是的，扎克，好問題。因此，當我們宣布這項交易時，我認為在第一季——第四季度的電話會議中，我們始終堅持超過 2000 萬美元的成本協同效應，這就是我們所提到的全部內容。如果你對我們指導和使用的範圍中點進行簡單的數學計算，你就會得到科迪亞克之前的中點，即 4.75 億美元。您取 CSI 指導位置中點的四分之三。那是[1.05 億美元]。這相當於 5.8 億美元。為了達到我們範圍的中點，這將意味著實現 1500 萬美元的協同效應。

The way we think about it, and again, in Q2 we'll come back with more detail, is we're doing really, really well as a Kodiak standalone basis. CSI's kind of at or better where they thought they would be. So those synergies are somewhere between $15 million and something less than $15 million. Remember, that's in nine months. It's not an annualized figure. That's realized during the back half of the year. So it's pretty easy to gross it up and say, hey, there's better than $20 million in cost synergies.

我們的想法是，在第二季我們將再次提供更多細節，我們在 Kodiak 獨立基礎上做得非常非常好。CSI 已經達到或更好了他們的預期。因此，這些協同效應大約在 1500 萬美元到不到 1500 萬美元之間。請記住，這是九個月後的事。這不是年化數字。這是在今年下半年實現的。因此，很容易總結出，嘿，成本協同效應超過 2000 萬美元。

The question was asked earlier for Mickey on revenue synergies. Again, not guiding on that, not extrapolating, but they're there. And we're optimizing against that fleet. So we're extremely confident that when we get through, call it, that 12- to-18-month timeframe that we will fully realize well beyond that original $20 million of cost synergies that we always knew would be there.

早些時候有人向米奇提出了關於收入協同效應的問題。再說一遍，不是指導，不是推斷，但它們就在那裡。我們正在針對該機隊進行最佳化。因此，我們非常有信心，當我們度過這個 12 至 18 個月的時間框架時，我們將完全實現遠遠超出我們一直知道的最初 2000 萬美元成本協同效應。

Perfect. That's all I had. Thanks, guys.

完美的。這就是我所擁有的一切。多謝你們。

Bill Austin, Daniel Energy Partners.

比爾奧斯汀，丹尼爾能源合夥人。

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. So you guys talked a little bit about the CapEx and the new units that you -- as you're seeing out there. How are you seeing deliveries for the remainder of this year on that new unit side? I know you've committed all that CapEx last year, and now you're getting into all those coming in. Are they coming in this quarter or next quarter? How are you guys seeing that?

大家好。感謝您提出我的問題。你們談論了一些關於資本支出和你們所看到的新單位的問題。您對今年剩餘時間內新設備的交付情況有何看法？我知道你去年已經投入了所有的資本支出，現在你正在投入所有的資本支出。他們是在本季還是下季推出？你們怎麼看？

Yes. It's going to come in pretty smooth throughout the rest of the year. I think there's a big chunk in Q2 that CSI had ordered previously from last year. But that will be pretty evenly spread throughout the rest of the year for combined entities. So we're not seeing anything slide or any supply chain issues or bottlenecks that would affect that right now and that's -- knock on wood. So you'll see those come in pretty ratably throughout the rest of the year.

是的。今年剩下的時間一切都會很順利。我認為第二季有很大一部分是 CSI 去年訂購的。但對於合併後的實體來說，這個數字將在今年剩餘時間內相當均勻地分佈。因此，我們現在沒有看到任何下滑或任何供應鏈問題或瓶頸會影響這一點，那就是——敲木頭。所以你會看到這些在今年剩下的時間裡大量出現。

Great. Nice seeing that the supply chain stuff is getting a little bit more predictable. (Multiple speakers) And I know you guys have addressed it a little bit on the M&A side. From an organic perspective, any other basins that you guys are looking at that sound exciting to start more focusing on or just kind of sticking to the knitting these days?

偉大的。很高興看到供應鏈變得更加可預測。（多位發言者）我知道你們已經在併購方面解決了一些問題。從有機的角度來看，你們正在尋找的任何其他盆聽起來令人興奮，開始更多地關注或只是堅持這些天的針織？

Yes. I mean, we obviously have enough -- plenty of work to do in the Permian Basin, but labor is a challenge there. So we were going to be open definitely to working on some additional type of basins that are very important to us. The Eagleford, Rocky Mountain region, some stuff up in the Northeast. Those are all areas that we think are opportunistic that have some liquids-rich type of opportunities with associated gas that kind of fit into our overall thesis for the business.

是的。我的意思是，我們顯然在二疊紀盆地有足夠多的工作要做，但勞動力在那裡是一個挑戰。因此，我們絕對願意開發一些對我們來說非常重要的其他類型的盆地。伊格爾福德，落基山脈地區，東北部有些東西。這些都是我們認為機會主義的領域，它們具有一些富含液體和伴生氣的機會，這符合我們的整體業務主題。

Great. Well, hey, thanks for taking my question, guys. Congrats on the quarter. I'll leave it to everyone else.

偉大的。嗯，嘿，謝謝你們提出我的問題，夥計們。恭喜本季。我會把它留給其他人。

Thanks, Bill.

謝謝，比爾。

Thank you. This brings us to the end of the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Mr. McKee for closing comments.

謝謝。問答環節到此結束。我想請麥基先生發表總結意見。

Thank you, operator, and thanks to everyone who participated in today's call. We look forward to speaking with you again after we report our second-quarter results.

謝謝接線員，也謝謝所有參加今天通話的人。我們期待在報告第二季業績後再次與您交談。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's event. You may disconnect your lines at this time and enjoy the rest of your day.

女士們、先生們，今天的活動到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路並享受剩下的一天。